Our liberty depends on the freedom of the press, and that cannot be limited without being lost. – Thomas Jefferson
Europe & Eurasia
Kazakhstan
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| IREX Score: 1.68 | [IREX Methodology] |
| {Higher is Better, Score Ranges from 0 to 4.00} |
IREX Description:
Kazakhstan's rotation chairing the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) shaped events in 2010. In 2007, the election of Kazakhstan—described by the Committee to Protect Journalists as one of the region's worst press freedom violators—raised objections from many civil society, media, and human rights organizations. The rotation proceeded amid the hope that Kazakhstan would comply with concrete steps spelled out in Madrid in 2008, pointing Kazakhstan on a path toward greater freedom for the media and democratization.
| Freedom House Score: 80 (Not Free) | [Freedom House Methodology] |
| {Lower is Better, Score Ranges from 0 to 100} |
| Freedom on the Ne Score: 55 (Partly Free) | [Freedom House Methodology] |
| {Lower is Better, Score Ranges from 0 to 100} |
Kazakhstan’s government has sought to make the internet a new source of economic strength and build the country into the information-technology hub of Central Asia. With that goal in mind, the government has made modest efforts to liberalize the telecommunications sector, promote internet usage, and enhance the internet portals of state entities. At the same time, the authorities also attempt to control citizens’ access to information and apparently fear the internet’s democratizing potential. In recent years, the government has blocked a popular blog-hosting platform and passed several pieces of legislation that restrict free expression online, particularly on topics that are deemed threatening to President Nursultan Nazarbayev’s power and reputation.
Read more on Freedom House's site...
| RSF Score: 68.50 | [RSF Methodology] |
| {Lower is Better, Score Ranges from 0 to ~120} |
Reporters Without Borders Description:
Publications that criticise the government can face serious reprisals, with the likelihood of charges of "insult" of "defamation", often incurring fines that can force them into closure.
This is what happened to the weekly Tasjargan in March 2009 after a parliamentary deputy Ramin Madinov claimed he had been libelled in an article headlined, "The poor landowner", that appeared in April 2008. He demanded an apology and the equivalent of about 1.6 million euros in damages. The court sentenced the weekly to pay a fine of 160,000 euros, putting its survival in threat and condemning its editor to several years unemployment. Ramazan Eserguepov, editor of the weekly Alma Ata Info also paid a high price for an article published in November 2008 that revealed the hold security services (KNB) have over the country’s political life. In the first move against him, his home and the newspaper offices were searched and after a 16-hour operation, computers and mobile phones belonging to editorial staff were seized. The search was aimed at finding internal KNB documents on which the incriminating article was based.
Eserguepov was summoned by the KNB in December in a bid to make him reveal his sources. He suffered mistreatment and an abduction attempt before taking refuge for 24 hours at the US Consulate. After spending several weeks in hospital, the journalist was arrested in January and taken to the regional KNB headquarters.
| Committee to Protect Journalists Description: | [What is the Committee to Protect Journalists?] |
Top Developments
• New laws restrict online news media, shield government officials from scrutiny.
• OSCE chairman Kazakhstan undermines organization with repression at home.
Key Statistic
44 Defamation complaints filed in first six months of 2010, many of them by government officials.
President Nursultan Nazarbayev's government failed to deliver the press freedom reforms it had promised in exchange for gaining 2010 chairmanship of the Vienna-based Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, or OSCE. Not only did the government renege on explicit pledges to decriminalize libel and bring press laws in line with international standards, it enacted a restrictive new measure governing Internet content and a sweeping privacy law that shielded government officials from public scrutiny.
Visit CPJ’s Site for Recent Developments in this Country
| IFEX News: | [What is IFEX?] |
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